A strategic planning council is mulling what Air Force Reserve Command needs to look like in 2025 so that it “remains viable for national defense,” said Lt. Gen. Jim Jackson, Air Force Reserve chief. The goal is to remain a “cost-effective and experienced force,” said Jackson during a panel discussion on sustaining global presence with diminishing assets at AFA’s Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Fla., on Feb. 21. Today, after more than a decade of war, the command has definitely achieved that, he said. Looking forward, “we can’t lose it,” said Jackson. AFRC also needs to remain a strategic depth and surge capacity for the nation, he said. “Everyone of our AFRC members should be able to go into any association and we should have given them the skill set they need to be successful,” said Jackson. He added, “I don’t know what tomorrow’s expeditionary force will look like, but we are trying to figure out what AFRC needs to look like to support that force. I do know AFRC will be a constant part of that requirement to support our nation.”
The Air Force is shoring up its cyber defenses both on and off base for critical infrastructure such as water and electrical power, and industry experts are calling for more, even specialized, dedicated microgrids offsite to support USAF operations in case of a total blackout caused by cyberattacks.
